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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164591">Everything Is Fine (Just Don't Get Caught)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy8/pseuds/Lazy8'>Lazy8</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e14-15 The Boiling Rock, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Prison, Prisoner abuse, chained to a wall</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:47:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164591</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy8/pseuds/Lazy8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The escape from the Boiling Rock doesn't go nearly as smoothly when Sokka overplays his hand. Now, it's up to Suki to rescue him and get their escape plans back on track.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hakoda &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Everything Is Fine (Just Don't Get Caught)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>Prompt:</b> Chained to a Wall<br/><b>Hurt Character:</b> Sokka<br/><b>Comforting Character(s):</b> Suki</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The good news was that Phase One of the plan had been put into motion: they were all out of their cells.</p>
<p>The bad news was that their group seemed to be missing two of its members.</p>
<p>"Okay," Hakoda started as he, Suki, and Chit Sang stood in a huddle, the other prisoners milling around them. "Is anyone else getting the feeling that something's gone wrong?"</p>
<p>"No, you're right," Suki agreed, crossing her arms. "Sokka and Zuko knew what the plan was. If they're not here yet, that can't be good."</p>
<p>Chit Sang tilted his head. "So what's the plan now, Chief?"</p>
<p>On the surface, Hakoda appeared calm, but Suki could see how hard his fists were clenched. "We are not leaving here without my son."</p>
<p>"Hey, I wasn't suggesting we do." Chit Sang raised both hands in a placating gesture. "I'm just saying that if we have to scrap this plan, there's no telling whether we'll be able to come up with another."</p>
<p>Suki, meanwhile, was rubbing her forehead. "I'll go after Sokka," she said at last, looking up. "If Zuko hasn't come back on his own by then, I'll see about finding him, too. You two wait out here. The last thing we need is for one of you to get locked up as well." Though nobody else had said it, she was sure that that was what had happened: at some point between their last planning session and the lifting of lockdown, Sokka and Zuko had gotten themselves captured.</p>
<p>Hakoda laid a hand on her shoulder. "Will you be okay by yourself?"</p>
<p>"I'll be fine." Suki shrugged, making sure to keep her voice light—she knew his real concern was that he felt he ought to be doing something himself, but she also knew that she was the one who had the best chance of not getting caught. In this situation, Hakoda would only slow her down. "In the meantime, you two better put your heads together and figure out what we're going to do if this doesn't pan out."</p>
<p>Though he still looked worried, Hakoda nodded. "Be careful. I'd hate for you to get caught too."</p>
<p>"I won't get caught." Then, she was on her way.</p>
<p>It wasn't hard to make her way through the prison yard: no one was paying any attention to one more person moving among the sea of uniforms. All the while, she made sure to keep an eye out for any of the guards.</p>
<p>Finally, after making it halfway back into the cell block, she managed to find what she was looking for: a single guard, all by herself, ducking one by one into the empty cells. The activity marked her immediately as a rookie assigned to cleaning duty.</p>
<p>Before she knew what was happening, Suki was on her. It was the work of seconds to subdue the guard and stifle her muffled shouts.</p>
<p>"Now," said Suki, who was all but sitting on top of the terrified guard with a knee in the small of her back. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you will tell me what I want to know."</p>
<hr/>
<p>Ten minutes later, Suki was on her way to the maximum security block.</p>
<p>She'd relieved the unfortunate guard of her uniform, handcuffs, and keys, and left her tied up and gagged in an empty cell; a small vindictive part of her was viciously glad that at least one person in the Fire Nation was finally getting a taste of what that felt like. The rest of her was mostly preoccupied with hoping that she'd be able to finish her work before the missing guard was discovered.</p>
<p>The guard had helpfully informed her that "the second impostor" had indeed been caught and taken to one of the maximum security cells for questioning. There would be tighter security, and there would be other guards. There was absolutely no room for error in what she was about to do.</p>
<p>The key to getting into places you weren't supposed to be, she knew, was ideally to avoid being seen—but, failing that, to look as if you belonged there. Something had obviously gone wrong with Sokka's attempts to brazen it out; she thought it was time to try stealth on for size.</p>
<p>As it turned out, the keys she'd taken from the guard she'd subdued would not let her into the maximum security block: that must have required a higher security clearance than a rookie would have. Nevertheless, Suki wasn't ready to give up yet: this was far from the worst obstacle she'd ever encountered. She patted down the stolen guard's uniform until she found a small dagger; it wasn't ideal, but after a few minutes of wiggling it around, she managed to pick the lock.</p>
<p>It was then that she got to the tricky part. It wasn't hard to figure out where Sokka was being interrogated: all she had to do was follow the sound of voices. The hard part would be getting around all of the other guards, who this time would <em>know</em> she wasn't supposed to be there.</p>
<p>In the end, the only real solution was just to get past them as quickly as possible, before they had a chance to join forces against her. Suki might have hit a few kneecaps in the process of barreling through them, but given that she knew far too many of the guards had absolutely no qualms about beating prisoners for sport or worse (there was a reason she'd been so on edge when Sokka had burst into her cell and started making kissy faces at her while wearing that uniform), she couldn't bring herself to feel too bad about it.</p>
<p>Once she had taken out the guards who were standing watch outside of the door, Suki liberated yet another set of keys (thankfully, these guards <em>did</em> have the right clearance), and made her entrance into the cell.</p>
<p>The first thing she noticed was that they had Sokka chained to the wall, the cuffs around his wrists and ankles forcing him to remain in a standing position with all of his vital areas vulnerable. It looked as if his interrogators had made brutal use of that vulnerability, too: his brows were drawn together in evident pain and there was a slight trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.</p>
<p>The second thing she noticed was that the warden had opted to carry out this interrogation personally.</p>
<p>"What?" the warden snapped as the door swung open. "I specifically told you I was not to be disturbed!"</p>
<p>"Sorry, Warden," she said, twirling the key ring around her fingers, "but this interrogation is over."</p>
<p>The warden whipped his head around with a look of surprise just as Sokka exclaimed "Suki!?" She was going to cherish the warden's expression of shocked dismay for the rest of her days.</p>
<p>Once the warden had been handcuffed and gagged, Suki turned to Sokka. "Are you okay?"</p>
<p>Sokka gave her a goofy grin as she unlocked the cuffs. "I am now."</p>
<p>Suki rolled her eyes with a fond smile, though she also made a mental note to check him over for more serious injuries as soon as they got a breather. "Let's take <em>this</em>," she nudged the warden with her foot, "out to the exercise yard. We're already running late enough as is."</p>
<p>To top it all off, as they were marching the warden back down the corridor, they were nearly bowled over by an incredibly frazzled-looking Zuko.</p>
<p>"And where have <em>you</em> been?" Suki demanded as he skidded to a halt in front of them. "I was afraid I was going to have to rescue you next!"</p>
<p>"Ran into an old girlfriend." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Don't ask." Then, his eyes landed on Sokka. "What happened to <em>you?</em>"</p>
<p>"I… sort of got caught." Sokka grinned sheepishly. "It's a long story."</p>
<p>"Right, well, now that you're here, would you help us with this?" Suki drove an elbow none-too-gently into the warden's side. "We've still got an escape to make."</p>
<hr/>
<p>After they made it onto the gondola and Hakoda got a look at his son, Suki found herself in the unenviable position of reminding the chief that they needed the warden alive when what she <em>really</em> wanted to do was fight him for the right to dump the man over the edge of the gondola and into the boiling lake.</p>
<p>In the end, he was willing to settle for punching the man and leaving him sprawled unconscious on the floor of the gondola. The crack of Hakoda's fist against the warden's face was yet another moment in the ever-growing list that Suki was going to do her best to commit to perfect memory.</p>
<p>Later, on the airship, while Zuko and Chit Sang went down to the boiler room to make sure it stayed airborne, Suki alternated between steering and helping Hakoda convince his son to let them look at the damage.</p>
<p>"Seriously, Dad, it's just a few bruises. I'm fine!"</p>
<p>Hakoda crossed his arms, and gave his son a <em>look</em> that would have had Suki breaking down in laughter if she weren't so worried herself. "I'll be the judge of that."</p>
<p>Sokka pouted for a few more seconds, but then shrugged out of his shirt with a sigh. "This isn't my color anyway."</p>
<p>"A few bruises" was an understatement. Already Sokka had dark patches blossoming over his torso. "Uh-huh." Suki abandoned the wheel for the moment in favor of giving her boyfriend her own <em>look</em>. "That's not a particularly good color on you either."</p>
<p>"I told you, I'm fi—AUGH!" in response to Suki poking her finger into his side.</p>
<p>"And that sounds like you've got a few ribs cracked." Hakoda sighed, and though he tried to keep his tone light Suki could see the worry on his face. "There's not a whole lot we can do right now, so just… take it easy until we get where we're going, okay? And promise me you'll have your sister take a look at it as soon as you get a chance. Getting hit like that can kill a man days after the fact."</p>
<p>"Okay, okay." Sokka held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I'll just… sit here. And not do anything. All the way back to the Western Air Temple."</p>
<p>Well, at least he was <em>saying</em> it. He might even <em>mean</em> it. Still, she knew Sokka, and if the look on Hakoda's face was anything to go by, then getting him to actually stay still for the remainder of the ride back was going to make breaking out of the Boiling Rock look easy.</p>
<p>It was at about that point that Suki began to get an idea.</p>
<p>"Hey, Hakoda?" He gave her a slight nod to let her know she had his attention. "Do you think you could take the wheel for a few minutes? Sokka can show you how."</p>
<p>"Oh, I think I can manage." Nevertheless, he cocked his head at her in curiosity. "Mind if I ask why?"</p>
<p>"I just want to explore the ship a little. See what sort of supplies we've got." She waved a hand as she stepped off the bridge. "I'll be back in a bit."</p>
<p>After a few minutes' worth of wandering unfamiliar corridors, she managed to find Zuko. He was taking his turn for a break, leaning up against the wall while Chit Sang worked the boiler.</p>
<p>Suki still hadn't forgotten that whole "burning down her village" thing, but she was also a practical-minded girl; she was capable of being civil as long as they kept to professional topics. Plus the fact that he'd just helped her get out of the prison that his sister had put her into certainly helped matters.</p>
<p>He answered her questions readily enough; she thanked him politely, even if she wasn't able to muster up any real warmth. As she was turning to leave, he spoke up with a question of his own.</p>
<p>"Is… is Sokka okay?"</p>
<p>Suki stiffened at the reminder, but in the ended, decided it would be best to answer, and to do so honestly. "He could be better," she confessed without turning around. "But he's not keeling over just yet, and I'm going to do my best to keep it that way."</p>
<p>When Suki returned to the bridge, it was with an armful of blankets.</p>
<p>"We've got a bit of a ride ahead of us," she explained as the father and son duo turned to look at her, "so I figured we might as well be comfortable." She turned to fix Sokka with a look that she knew from prior experience would have him melting. "Speaking of which, I haven't seen you for months." She dangled a blanket out in front of him as if offering a bolt of prized silk. "Care to share with me?"</p>
<p>As Sokka all but fell over himself scrambling to get to her side, Suki wondered, briefly, whether playing the seductress in front of his father might have been taking things a step too far. Looking at Hakoda over Sokka's head quickly allayed those fears, though; the chief was now holding a hand over his mouth and all but shaking with repressed laughter. As Suki tucked the blankets around them both and pulled Sokka close so he could rest his head on her shoulder, Hakoda gave her a brief nod that told her he knew <em>exactly</em> what she was doing, and appreciated it.</p>
<p>They cuddled all of the way back to the Western Air Temple, and Sokka didn't stir once.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Though there were certain things I'm sure the writers just weren't allowed to show onscreen because it <i>was</i> a kids' show, there are a couple of moments in "The Boiling Rock" that have some <i>really</i> disturbing implications. Like that one guard forcing Chit Sang (who was trying to de-escalate the situation by walking away) to firebend in self-defense just for an excuse to throw him into a cooler. Like Suki's reaction to Sokka coming into her cell before he revealed who he was. Like the other guards who thought absolutely nothing of Sokka ducking into Zuko's cell to "rough him up" - the fact that he wasn't <i>actually</i> beating on Zuko doesn't change the fact that nobody would have tried to stop him if he <i>was</i>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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